Will police and fire be on the chopping block?

Updated 10:25 pm, Saturday, March 30, 2013

Faced with a possible $10 million cut in state aid in the governor’s budget, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch has already presented two unpalatable responses to residents: Open their wallets or weather cuts to public safety.“You can’t cut $10 million out of this budget without reducing the number of police and fire, or increasing property taxes. It’s just not possible,” Finch said recently following a speech to the business community. “I lead with those (departments) because they’re the biggest.” less

Faced with a possible $10 million cut in state aid in the governor’s budget, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch has already presented two unpalatable responses to residents: Open their wallets or weather cuts to ... more

BRIDGEPORT -- Would the city award badges to 19 new police officers, only to take them away weeks later?

Mayor Bill Finch is set to deliver his 2013-14 budget to the City Council at its Monday night meeting, and city residents and employees are waiting to see what jobs or services might be on the chopping block.

Faced with a possible $10 million cut in state aid in the governor's budget, the mayor has already presented two unpalatable responses to residents: Open their wallets or weather cuts to public safety.

"You can't cut $10 million out of this budget without reducing the number of police and fire, or increasing property taxes. It's just not possible," Finch said recently following a speech to the business community. "I lead with those (departments) because they're the biggest."

There are 430 uniformed members of Bridgeport's finest and 287 of the city's bravest.

It's a startling warning from a mayor who, between imposing a youth curfew, initiating a gun buyback program and hiring more cops, has labored to make constituents feel more secure and change Bridgeport's violent image.

Police Chief Joseph Gaudett says he is already running a tight operation and doing more with less.

That begs the question: Is Finch serious or simply trying to make a tax hike more palatable to an already overburdened constituency?

"We would have to seriously consider that because there's just not much beyond that," Finch said of the public safety cuts.

Sgt. Charles Paris, president of the Bridgeport police union, is not losing sleep.

"We feel pretty secure," Paris said.

Many union contracts in Bridgeport have a "last in, first out" clause requiring the newest hires to be let go in case of layoffs. In the case of the police, Paris said, that would be those 19 new officers sworn in at City Hall in mid-February.

The first three years' worth of salaries and benefits are paid for by the federal government. In return the city must maintain staffing levels and retain the new officers a fourth year, Paris said.

"To lay police officers off, we believe the city would have to give money back to the federal government," Paris said.

During a forum with community leaders in the Black Rock neighborhood Wednesday night, Finch said his hands are tied when it comes to cutting the newest hires, even though the new police and fire recruits work hard and earn the least.

Paris said he believes the mayor is simply trying to convince residents to accept a tax increase.

"It's a little disconcerting that they are using the Police Department, in a way, to scare the taxpayers and the governor," Paris said.

The police union endorsed Finch's rival, Mary Jane Foster, in the 2011 Democratic primary. But the mayor received the support of the city's fire union.

Twenty-one new firefighters joined that department over the winter.

David Dobbs, a fire union vice president, said he understands the challenges the Finch administration faces crafting a budget before the governor and Legislature pass a fiscal plan.

"I think the difficulty is trying to prepare a budget in the blind," Dobbs said.

He said he is adopting a wait-and-see attitude about Finch's threatened cuts.

"Hopefully, it doesn't come to that," he said.

Another option for the Finch administration would be to target overtime. Both Police and Fire departments have caused their share of overtime headaches. In fact, Finch and Gaudett hired Assistant Chief of Police James Nardozzi in November to tackle the problem.

As of that month, the Police Department was already $3.5 million over its budget because of hurricane response. The most recent data was unavailable from the city, but is expected to be higher because of the February blizzard.

Gaudett argues that a case can be made that overtime is a symptom of already strained staffing.

"If we had a larger department, ergo, we'd have less overtime," he said.